Welcome to our adoption blog. We are excited to share our journey to Ukraine for our third international adoption with our friends and families. We hope you'll check back often as we share our progress, and we are grateful for your prayer support along the way!!!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

One step closer to home

Today has been a pretty quiet day. Nastia got going at the crack of 2 PM :). I think she watched 4 movies (scary movies at that) from the bed today. It was good for her to have a crash day. We took some time to pack and get ready to go. It has taken a little time to get squared away. At 2 we headed out to our favorite place (NOT), McDonald’s for a bite to eat with her friend Nastia. Sure enough, as soon as we got there and ordered, we got the call that the passport was ready. I had to run back to the apartment and get her birth certificate so we could get another certified copy for the embassy while the girls ate, and then we parted ways. Denise and I headed off to get the passport, and the two friends headed off to walk for a while and enjoy a little time together as a last goodbye.

We now have the passport in hand. Woooo Hoooo! We fly out at 8:15 from the small airport here in Sevastopol and arrive in Kyiv at 10:15. From there it is off to a medical exam and then dinner with our friends Joel and Mary Ellen Ragains. We are so pumped. One because we are getting on the road toward home and two because we will be spending the evening with our kids’ Ukraine Nana and Papaw! We love them so much, and anytime we get a little bit of time with them it is so special!!!!! Joel and Mary Ellen were in the States for some of the time we have been here, but other than that, we have talked virtually every night. What an encouragement and a blessing! They have such a warm home, and we are so blessed to be their guests.

Sunday is also going to be a big day. We will be attending the 5th birthday of Open Hearts Church where Sergey Bochko is the pastor. Many of you know Sergey and his wife Natalie who came and translated for Promise 139 this year. They lead Open Hearts Church and have become dear friends to us. Several of the Open Hearts members were our translators this year in Tetiev when we assisted the planting of another church there as well, so we will have many friends to share with there. It will be a great celebration, and we are thankful that God has allowed us to be here for it!

Monday and Tuesday will be our embassy visits, and Lord willing, we will be flying into Gulfport on Wednesday afternoon at 5 PM. We plan to stop at the first Cracker Barrel we see on the way home :). So we hope to hit Hattiesburg around 7:30 or so! There are probably people nowhere that want to be in Hattiesburg more than we do right now!!!!

We love you all! Thank you for your prayer and your encouragement and support.

1 comment:

I think my favorite part in reading the windup of folks' adoption (besides the adoption being final and another orphan is an orphan NO MORE!) is what is at the top of the craving list. :) I've seen brownies, Red Robin, and now Cracker Barrel (did you want grits?). I don't remember craving anything - however we did have to make a second trip to complete our adoptions and i took a handful of yellow mustard packets with me since we couldn't get regular yellow mustard at McDonalds. In fact, i may have been the opposite - I LOVED LOVED LOVED the green box of oatmeal in Ukraine and packed home as much as i could because NOTHING was/is as good.

I prayed for you this morning and will continue to pray you all the way to Cracker Barrel.

Orphanology

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Rom 8:14-1714 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.NIV